Ice packs have been widely used in the medical field for the therapeutic treatment of swelling and inflammation and for the reduction of pain resulting from traumatic injuries or surgery. Cooling the traumatized area reduces the sensitivity of the nerve endings and also lessens swelling caused by cellular fluid expulsion. Cooling also constricts capillary vessels to reduce internal bleeding. Ice packs are particularly useful for causing this cooling because they can be applied locally without significant effect on the rest of the body, and they are also relatively convenient and inexpensive.
Many of the developments in ice packs have related to the means for attaching the ice pack to the body. U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,848 by Hubbard is a generally rectangular envelope having an open end and a pair of tie strings on each end which can be tied to one another or to a part of the body. The overall configuration of the rectangular envelope and the attaching tie strings lends itself to attachment to a limb of the body, but not to other portions of the body. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,003 by Meistrell is an elongated element with extended legs which wrap around on itself and adhere with Velcro brand hook and loop fastener or other adhesive means. Again, this is usable for application to a limb primarily. U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,972 by Finch carries the velcro idea even further; Velcro brand hook and loop fastener, magnetic or other adhesive means are adhered to the body and they, in turn, releasably attach to the ice pack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,498 by Kosak includes rectangularly shaped panels sealed around the periphery to form an envelope with Velcro brand hook and loop fastener or other attachment means that allow the envelope to wrap around a limb and seal on itself.
Other patents are directed toward the shape of the cold pack, as distinguished from the means for attachment to the body. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,436 by Singleton relates to a specially contoured ice pack for application to the perineal region. U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,761 by Baker relates to a specially designed harness for application of ice to the head region. U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,381 by Roslonski relates to an inflatable compress which is designed to assume the shape of the body portion to which it is attached, and the claims of that patent mention that the compress may be a wrap-around bandage, an inflatable sleeve, an inflatable mitten or an inflatable boot.
Because many of the traumatic injuries to which ice packs are applied are in the limbs of the patient, most of the advances in ice packs have been directed toward ice packs which attach to a straight limb. Therefore, the ice packs are typically an elongated void, such as a rectangular envelope, with strings, velcro or other attachment means located on each end. In this way, the ice pack wraps around the limb and attaches to itself. Very little of the prior art is related to ice bags used on the body rather than on a straight limb.
The use of an ice pack on the body poses special problems. The problems are primarily that the external body configuration is such that ordinary ice bags do not conform well to the body contours, and the body is too large to allow normal ice bags to be wrapped completely around and attached to themselves. Both these problems are particularly acute with respect to, for example, the application of an ice bag to a female breast to relieve post operative pain and inflammation as occurs following breast surgery or to reduce the flow of milk following delivery. For these applications, a uniquely configured ice pack is required to conform to the body contour. Preferably, the unique configuration will conform to a variety of different possible body contours so that the same one can be used in a variety of applications. Also, preferably, the unique configuration would be usable on limbs, shoulders, ankles and other body areas in the manner of the ice packs described above.